On Sunday night Dublin welcomed back to its shores one of the heaviest bands on the planet. Gojira returned to Ireland after a two year absence in support of their acclaimed album Magma, which the band released last year.

Swedish progressive rock/metal band Katatonia released their 10th album The Fall of Hearts last year to much acclaim from fans and critics. Embarking on a European tour later that year, many were disappointed when the band announced a single UK show. However, the band were quick to rectify that by announcing their return to the UK and Ireland for a longer tour.

A couple of years ago the power metal scene in Ireland was almost non-existence with fans begging for bands to come over only to be met with the response that the demand simply wasn’t there. However, Sabaton’s show in 2012 started to kick up interest in the genre meaning that the band have since enjoyed subsequent visits (in bigger venues no less) with other giants of the genre coming to our shores such as Kamelot and more recently Blind Guardian.

Trivium’s last show in Dublin was back in 2014 when the group were still supporting their album Vengeance Falls. A couple of weeks before the show vocalist Matt Heafy was taken ill after blowing out his vocals and was advised against performing. There were fears that the show would be cancelled but the band persevered and Matt was backed up by his fellow bandmates to finish the tour run. The band now returns as part of their final Silence in the Snow support shows and hopes are that they can push out a killer performance this time.

They say good things happen to those who wait, well after years of people begging and clamouring it was finally announced that metal giants Meshuggah would be making their return to Ireland more than 20 years since their last visit. The show was more than halfway sold out from just one day of ticket sales and had to be quickly upgraded, not something you hear too often with a metal show here.

It’s been seven long years since the last full-length album from eccentric metallers Madder Mortem but the recently released Red in Tooth and Claw was certainly worth waiting for. They continue to forge ahead with their weird and unique take on music ranging from the groovy stomper ‘Fallow Season’ to heavier cuts like ‘Stone for…

Tonight ends a long wait for melodic metallers Delain to finally grace our shores, and what a year to do it in. The band not only released their fifth album Moonbathers but they are also celebrating ten years since the release of their debut album Lucidity and the wild ride which that album set them up on.

The Siege of Limerick is a bi-annual free metal festival held in the center of Limerick city during the Easter and Samhain bank holiday weekends since 2008. All of the latest information and stage times can be found on the events facebook page. This quick-starter guide will give you a taste of the music that…

Twenty five years is a long time to stick it out in the music industry and in 2016 Swedish metallers Katatonia celebrate just that at tonight’s show in London. From their early death/black/doom days alongside the Peaceville Three, their depressive rock middle era and right up to their modern dark progressive metal, they’ve had quite a career.

My short hop over the pond to Scotland was a trip I had almost never made, a trip I would have regretted if I hadn’t taken the plunge. Stream of Passion have quickly risen through the ranks of my favourite bands after hearing the beautiful track ‘When You Hurt Me The Most’ from their second album The Flame Within more than 4 years ago.

Ne Obliviscaris are a group who’ve gone from strength to strength over these past few years. Their albums, Portal of I and Citadel, have garnered critical acclaim and over this past year they’ve embarked on huge tours supporting Cradle of Filth in the US and Enslaved throughout Europe.

Just over a year after blowing us away with the debut album from death metal supergroup Alkaloid, drumming maestro Hannes Grossmann returns with the second album from his solo group. The Crypts of Sleep is another torrential slab of the finest tech death from the man who’s featured on some of the finest releases of…